THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state Scheduled Caste-Schedule Tribe (SC-ST) Commission has ended proceedings on a complaint filed by an SFI leader against two Syndicate members of Kerala University, nominated by the governor, accusing them of making “casteist remarks” against a research scholar.
The complaint was filed in connection with the row over the open defence of the PhD dissertation of the scholar, belonging to the SC-ST category, in November, 2025. During a senate meeting on November 12, there were heated exchanges between pro-Left members over the scholar’s PhD dissertation. SFI district secretary Nandan M A had filed a complaint with the Cantonment Police and the SC-ST panel alleging that Syndicate members Vinod Kumar T G Nair and P S Gopakumar made “casteist remarks” against the scholar during a media interaction.
The Syndicate members told the commission that the petition was baseless and politically motivated. They also pointed out the legal anomaly in persisting with the petition with the SC-ST panel even after the police probe found no merit in the complaint.
Meanwhile, Nandan did not appear for the hearing despite the commission’s notice. According to the Syndicate members, the complaint was filed with the sole intention of tarnishing their image. On Friday, the commission ordered that further proceedings in the complaint be stopped. Advocate V K Manju, who is also a senate member of the varsity, appeared on behalf of the Syndicate members.